A quintessential Vermont home—think historic appeal and surrounded by trees—used to film the 1988 comedy “Funny Farm” isn’t selling.
It’s no laughing matter—although it is baffling given the historic importance of this Federal-style house in Townshend, VT, which dates to 1792. Currently listed for $329,000, the home has had a series of price cuts over the past couple of years. One reason the house has not been snatched up could be the asking price. The median listing price in Townshend (population 1,149) is $245,000, says listing agent John McPherson. A second strike against a sale is that the listing for the three-bedroom home is showing its age. The home first popped up for sale in 2007 at an inopportune time. “It went on the market just as the market was sinking, and they were asking for what would be a fair price in 2010 [$595,000], but not in 2007,” says McPherson. Plus, the market for historic homes in the area is a bit tepid. “There are a lot of houses of this vintage in the area that are on and off the market,” says McPherson. “It’s largely a function of the economy.” Earlier this year, the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant—a major area employer—announced its shutdown, leaving about 600 people without jobs. And yet this notable house has many cool perks, including its brick exterior. “Brick houses around here are very unusual. In 1792, you paid somebody several ox carts to bring the bricks in. You couldn’t buy them here,” says McPherson, adding that there are only a dozen or so brick homes in the area. Click here to read more Stamford, CT, is headquarters to multiple blue-chip companies and the execs who run them; it has good schools, low crime, nice (Long Island Sound) beaches, and tantalizingly close proximity to New York.
And now, it can lay claim to yet another bragging right: The place is home to Connecticut’s most expensive listing. A grand, European-style manor sitting on 262 acres is going for $75 million—swiping the torch away from neighboring upper-cast enclave Greenwich.The 20,000-square-foot, 10-bedroom estate, built in 1900, will be a perfect fit for a tycoon looking to settle down and soak in the country lifestyle. Because although the property is home to amazing parklike gardens and lush greenery, it’s only about an hour away from Manhattan.The opulent spaces can easily handle large-scale entertaining, thanks to a grand entry, formal dining and living rooms, a cloak room, a library, and a conservatory. Quiet (and quality) time can be spent in the chef’s kitchen and cozy breakfast room.One of our favorite details: the jaw-dropping indoor pool decorated with Italian mosaics. The endless grounds, which span the New York-Connecticut border, include manicured gardens, a picturesque lake, a pool, a tennis court, a greenhouse, barns, and four guesthouses. Now the question is: Who will be charmed enough by the property to pay the price? Click here to read more Few pieces of furniture in your home carry more weight—figuratively or literally—than your couch. If life itself could be distilled into one massive, upholstered home furnishings item, it would be a sofa. So if you’re shopping for one, you’d better know your terminology.There’s an entire universe of styles and options out there, and picking the perfect sofa is way more complicated than choosing between leather or fabric. Look no further than “Learning the Lingo,” our regular series where we decipher all the terms you need to know whether you’re buying, selling, or sprucing up your home.
This installment: a comprehensive couch glossary so you can find the ideal fit for you. CabrioleThe Cabriole sofa is characterized by an exposed wooden frame (often carved); continuous, equal-height back and arms; distinctive curved legs with concave lower portions and convex upper ones; and no separate back cushions. They rose in popularity around the time of Louis XV in the 1800s and have swung strongly back in vogue today. The most famous modern-day cabriole may well be the one Tom Cruise jumped on during his enthusiastic profession of love for Katie Holmes, his sweetheart at the time, on “Oprah.” Clearly, these sofas can stand some unhinged but ebullient abuse! CamelbackAny traditionalist will love the classic line of a camelback, which has an arched back that rises to a higher point in the middle and again slightly at the ends. It usually has rolled arms and an exposed wood frame. Cute fact: It comes in one-hump or two-hump styles. That’s why it’s sometimes referred to as “humpback sofas.” Not by us. Click here to read more The holiday weekend turned into a horror show for many Texans after a series of tornadoes whipped through the state, leaving 11 dead and hundreds homeless. According to the Dallas Morning News, officials are still tallying the damage, while the news serves as a wake-up call for the rest of the nation: Would you know what to do if a tornado hit your home while you were tucked in bed or sitting down to dinner?
While many may assume tornadoes happen only in certain places such as Tornado Alley, the truth is that they’ve been documented in every state and country barring Antarctica, with the U.S. topping the list on tornado counts with around 100 reported per year, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information. And unlike most other weather phenomena, they are nearly impossible to predict. So how do you increase your odds of surviving a twister unscathed? The first rule of thumb: If you’re home when a tornado arrives, stay there. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shelter is your best protection from getting pummeled by debris, or swept up yourself. But just because you’re home doesn’t mean you’re in the clear—particularly since much of the tornado safety advice we’ve been taught is inaccurate. For instance, according to a paper by Roger Edwards at the Storm Prediction Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, “forget about the old notion of opening windows to equalize pressure.” It doesn’t work! In fact, opening them just lets the tornado in to wreak more havoc. And windows will shatter no matter what if the gusts are strong enough. So just stay away from them entirely. The safest room in your home is your basement, if you have one—if you don’t, head to the lowest floor possible and sequester yourself in a small interior room without windows, such as a closet, bathroom, hallway, or under the stairs. And in the event that your building is in danger of collapse, take note of what’s on the floors above you, and avoid spots where heavy objects such as beds, pianos, and dressers are situated. As Edwards explains, “They may fall down through a weakened floor and crush you.” As added protection from falling debris, cover yourself with a mattress, blanket, or coat; use a bike helmet if one is handy. And once the tornado is over? Exit your home as soon as possible. “Stay out of any heavily damaged houses or buildings; they could collapse at any time,” warns Edwards. While tornado damage is devastating, at the very least you can rejoice that your home kept you safe this far. Click here to read more They’re out there—lurking in your shower drain, under the doormat, around your kitchen sink, even in Humbert the Cat’s dinner bowl. Germs may be invisible to the naked eye (if they aren’t then you have a bigger problem than we might be able to help you with), but they’re almost everywhere.Aside from the general nastiness, germs can cause illness and disease and trigger major allergies. And just in case you’re resting easy, thinking of this as a warm-weather problem, sorry to burst your bubble of smug complacency: We happen to be in prime germ season right now. Scientists don’t fully understand why people tend to get sick in winter, but hanging out with bacteria sure can’t help. It can’t help at all.
Be afraid. Or better still: Be prepared. Show those germs who’s boss! So just what is your home’s Germ Central? If you think it’s the bathroom, think again. NSF International swabbed 30 surfaces you very likely touch in your home every day—ranging from kitchen surfaces to cellphones—to measure levels of yeast, mold, and coliform bacteria (a virulent family of food- and water-based bacteria that includes salmonella and E. coli). Take a look at some surprising spots where germs lurk: According to NSF, here are some cleaning tips for those 10 spots: 1. Kitchen spongeMicrowave wet sponges at high heat for two minutes once per day—seriously, every day—and replace every two weeks. These things get filthy. If you’re the type who measures the life span of kitchen sponges in years, stop being that type. 2. Kitchen sinkIs it any surprise that the kitchen sink is the second germiest place in your home, a virtual Wild West of bacteria? Tame it. Wash and fully disinfect the sides and bottom once or twice a week. Sanitize kitchen drains and disposals monthly by pouring down a solution of 1 teaspoon household bleach in 1 quart of water. 3. Toothbrush holderOK, this one caught us a bit off guard. Germ-laden toothbrushes? Going into our mouthsdaily? Gross. Hand wash the holder with hot, soapy water, and clean with a disinfecting wipe once or twice a week. 4. Pet bowlGive your furry loved ones—and their owners—a break. Place bowls in a solution of one cap of bleach in 1 gallon of water and soak for about 10 minutes once a week. 5. Coffee reservoirA common disinfecting method is to add up to 4 cups of undiluted vinegar to the reservoir, let it stand for 30 minutes and run the vinegar through the unit. Run fresh water through the unit until the vinegar odor is gone. It’s a bit of a pain, but it works. Most manufacturers recommend cleaning every 40-80 brew cycles, or at least monthly. 6. Faucet handlesClean daily with disinfecting cleaner or wipes. A paper towel and a splash of water isn’t enough. Click here to read more Megastar Sharon Cuneta is selling her megamansion in Calabasas, CA.
The popular Filipino singer, actor, spokesmodel, and TV personality also dabbles in real estate: Her Southern California home is on the market for $2.2 million. Cuneta may have had a change of heart on the property over the past year. In 2014, she posted photos of the six-bedroom home on Facebook, calling it, “Home. Thousands of miles away. Our ‘happy place,’” adding a smiley face emoticon.There’s plenty to smile about with this property built in 1997: The 6,610-square-foot estate hits a high note with a grand marble entry, custom library, chef’s kitchen with a breakfast room, formal living room with fireplace, family room, and numerous bedrooms.Entertainment options abound. Step outside to an expansive lawn, relax under a covered patio, cook up a meal on the grill, or take a dip in the pool and spa, which include a waterfall. And the singer had a connection to the area. She performed to a sold-out crowd in Los Angeles in 2005 and had spoken of someday retiring in the U.S. But someday is not today, at least not for this Calabasas mansion. Despite the perks of California living, maybe for the 49-year-old, home is still in the Philippines. Click here to read more Since the Federal Reserve recently voted for the first benchmark interest rate hike in years, many homeowners may be wondering: Should they refinance now to lock in a record-low rate before it starts creeping up? Well, that depends on your motivations for doing so. Some reasons are just plain bad—i.e., you’re just itching to get your hands on easy cash—but others should really inspire you to submit your application sooner rather than later.
On the fence over whether it’s worth the trouble? Check out these perfectly fine reasons to refinance your home loan. Reason No. 1: To get rid of credit card debtWhile mortgage rates have peeped above 4% only once this year (in July), credit card interest rates often ride well into the double digits. All things being equal, it’s better to owe under 5% interest on a loan than 18% on a credit card. And as an added benefit, the interest you pay on your mortgage is tax-deductible; the interest you pay on plastic is not, says Kristen Euretig, a certified financial planner and co-founder of Brooklyn Plans. Of course, this is assuming you won’t just run up more credit card debt once you’ve refinanced, so be sure to curb (or better yet eliminate) your card use and/or get in a debt management program to keep your spending in check. Reason No. 2: To save more for retirementSimilarly, if you are falling behind on retirement savings, you may want to use the savings from a refi to make contributions to your 401(k)—after all, these contributions are not taxed, and if your employer matches your contribution, your savings work double time, points out David Schneider, a certified financial planner and founder of Schneider Wealth Strategies in Manhattan. Also, as a third benefit, since your 401(k) is withdrawn from your paycheck before it is taxed, your overall income is lower and your tax bill is smaller at the end of the year. Reason No. 3: You’re underwater on your mortgageFor homeowners whose property values have slipped below the cost of their mortgage, there are places they can turn to refinance that could help—namely the Home Affordable Refinance Program. Rolled out by the federal government in the wake of the financial crisis of the mid-2000s, HARP provides relief to underwater homeowners. The program is set to expire at the end of 2016. To be eligible, you’ll have to meet some requirements: For instance, your mortgage must have originated on or before May 31, 2009; you must be current on your mortgage payments; and your loan-to-value ratio must be higher than 80%. Clickhere to see if you’re eligible. Reason No. 4: Your current mortgage interest rate isn’t greatJust because you have a decent 30-year fixed mortgage rate and you are happy in your home doesn’t mean you should become complacent. It’s in homeowners’ interest to keep a watchful eye for a better deal, as the savings could be significant. For instance, if you borrow $100,000 with a 6% rate, you would pay just shy of $600 per month and you would pay nearly $116,000 in interest. But if you borrowed that same sum with a 4% rate, your monthly payments would come to just a little over $475 per month, and you’d pay roughly $72,000 in interest. To see if you would benefit from a refi, try crunching the numbers in a refi calculator. Click here to read more If you like to wake up with sun salutations and eventually find yourself standing in tree pose, then perhaps a house with its own peaceful yoga studio is for you. Yoga is an ancient spiritual discipline involving meditation, guided poses, and, in some cases, lots of sweat.
The healthy mind-body workout made it onto the top 10 list of fitness trends for 2016, so it’s a perfect time for you to really commit to your practice. And even if you’ve never touched your toes in your life, don’t sweat it: These om-azing spaces could inspire anyone to get started on their first downward dog. 180 Door of Faith Rd, Haiku HIPrice: $4,995,000 This rustic Maui home will have all your chakras tingling. Built in 1979 and newly renovated, the four-bedroom mountainside retreat comes with modern improvements “in tune with the pristine environment” and “seamless indoor-outdoor living.” Updates to the “harmonious home” include a window-filled 847-square-foot yoga studio with maple floor, cedar walls, sauna, and ocean views. Inner peace meter: Zen-tastic 4067 Gorham Dr, Corona Del Mar CAPrice: $9,475,000 Here, European-inspired style meets Eastern spirituality. This luxurious, five-bedroom ocean-facing house has views to Santa Catalina Island, white oak flooring, natural lighting, a living room, a chef’s kitchen, a game room, a gym, and, naturally, a yoga studio. After you’ve worked out, step out to the stone terrace, dip into the spa, relax in the open-air courtyard, or enjoy a bottle of wine from the “temperature-controlled, dine-in wine room.” Inner peace meter: Real estate nirvana Click here to read more Is it really 2016 already? For those of you who happen to be planning on buying a home in the new year—or even just trying to—there’s a whole lot to celebrate. Why? A variety of financial vectors have dovetailed to make this the perfect storm for home buyers to get out there and make an (winning) offer. Here are six home-buying reasons to be thankful while ringing in the new year:
Reason No. 1: Interest rates are still at record lowsEven though they may creep up at any moment, it’s nonetheless a fact that interest rates on home loans are at historic lows, with a 30-year fixed-rate home loan still hovering around 4%. “Remember 18.5% in the ’80s?” asks Tom Postilio, a real estate broker with Douglas Elliman Real Estate and a star of HGTV’s “Selling New York.”“It is likely that we’ll never see interest rates this low again. So while prices are high in some markets, the savings in interest payments could easily amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars over the life of the mortgage.” Reason No. 2: Rents have skyrocketedAnother reason home buyers are lucky is that rents are going up, up, up! (This, on the other hand, is a reason not to be thankful if you’re a renter.) In fact, rents outpaced home values in 20 of the 35 biggest housing markets in 2015. What’s more, according to the2015 Rent.com Rental Market Report, 88% of property managers raised their rent in the past 12 months, and an 8% hike is predicted for 2016. “In most metropolitan cities, monthly rent is comparable to that of a monthly mortgage payment, sometimes more,” says Heather Garriock, mortgage agent for The Mortgage Group. “Doesn’t it make more sense to put those monthly chunks of money into your own appreciating asset rather than handing it over to your landlord and saying goodbye to it forever?” Reason No. 3: Home prices are stabilizingFor the first time in years, prices that have been climbing steadily upward are stabilizing, restoring a level playing field that helps buyers drive a harder bargain with sellers, even in heated markets. “Local markets vary, but generally we are experiencing a cooling period,” says Postilio. “At this moment, buyers have the opportunity to capitalize on this.” Reason No. 4: Down payments don’t need to break the bankProbably the biggest obstacle that prevents renters from becoming homeowners is pulling together a down payment. But today, that chunk of change can be smaller, thanks to a variety of programs to help home buyers. For instance, the new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Home Possible Advantage Program allows for a 3% down payment for credit scores as low as 620. Reason No. 5: Mortgage insurance is a deal, tooIf you do decide to put less than 20% down on a home, you are then required to have mortgage insurance (basically in case you default). A workaround to handle this, however, is to take out a loan from the Federal Housing Administration—a government mortgage insurer that backs loans with down payments as low as 3.5% and credit scores as low as 580. The fees are way down from 1.35% to 0.85% of the mortgage balance, meaning your monthly mortgage total will be significantly lower if you fund it this way. In fact, the FHA predicts this 37% annual premium cut will bring 250,000 first-time buyers into the market. Why not be one of them? Click here to read more Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, or Festivus, the holidays seem to really take over the month of December: With long lines everywhere, office parties, decorations, and random elf sightings, everything else practically grinds to a halt. It’s typically not the best time to find a new job, start a diet, or—especially—buy or sell a home.
Just as we’d expected, the residential real estate market cooled down a bit in the last month of 2015, with reduced demand and inventory in most major markets—though not as much of a slowdown as the same time last year, according to a preliminary analysis of the month’s data on realtor.com®. The median list price in December, $228,000, is down from November, although just by 1%. That’s actually an increase of 9% from December of last year. Listing inventory is expected to trend down 7% for the month, compared with November. Homes are taking longer to sell as markets prepare for the new year, but they’re still moving faster than this time last year. The median age of inventory—the amount of time that homes sit on the market—is now 93 days, which is up 11% from November but still down 7% year over year. Jonathan Smoke, chief economist of realtor.com, and his team carried out the data analysis and identified the top 20 medium-to-large markets where homes are moving fastest and interest (based on listing views on realtor.com) is highest. At the top of the list, for the second month in a row, is San Francisco, followed by its sister Bay Area city San Jose. “While California closed out our latest ranking still firmly in control of the hottest markets, the Midwest and Florida are both seeing substantial improvement,” said Smoke. “Pent-up demand and robust economic growth combined with limited supply will keep California tight in 2016, but more markets will challenge them as demand improves elsewhere.” A few markets are new to the hot list this month: Tampa, FL; Fort Wayne, IN; and Midland, TX. These markets typically represent a greater metro area, since people might work in a city but reside in a nearby suburb. For example, San Francisco also includes Oakland andHayward; San Jose includes Sunnyvale and Santa Clara. On the whole, the hottest markets receive about 1.4 to 2.9 times the number of views per listing compared with the national average. Their homes move off market 29 to 51 days more quickly than the rest of the U.S., and they have also seen days on market drop by a combined average of 15% year over year. Click here to read more |
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February 2017
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